Reuters, September 3, 2011:Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov condemned Saturday sanctions imposed on Syria by the European Union, saying they "will lead to nothing good." [...] Russia has long had close ties with Syria and is one of its main arms suppliers. One of the proposed sanctions is an arms embargo that would make it illegal for Russian firms to sell weapons to Damascus - Russia condemns EU sanctions against Syria

Børge Svanstrøm Amundsen

"Atlas was permitted the opinion that he was at liberty, if he wished, to drop the Earth and creep away; but this opinion was all that he was permitted" - Franz Kafka

Israel National News, October 19, 2011:A Hizbullah delegation was welcomed by officials in Moscow on Wednesday for the terror group’s first official visit to the Kremlin. The three-man delegation, headed by Hizbollah MP Mohammad Raad, is scheduled to meet Russian officials for talks on developments in Lebanon and the region,a Hizbollah source told Lebanon's The Daily Star. The source said discussions will also touch on bilateral ties and issues of common interest. Russia has opposed Western intervention in Syria as the uprising there enters its seventh month, as has Hizbullah, which has close ties to the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in Damascus - Moscow Welcomes Hizbullah

Børge Svanstrøm Amundsen

"Atlas was permitted the opinion that he was at liberty, if he wished, to drop the Earth and creep away; but this opinion was all that he was permitted" - Franz Kafka

Defense News, October 25, 2011:Russia has sent a set of mobile radar jammers to Iran and is negotiating future deliveries that Moscow believes do not contravene current United Nations sanctions on the Islamic state's regime, an official said Tuesday. The Avtobaza truck-mounted jammers are part of a broader line of arms Russia hopes to sell Iran despite concerns over Tehran's nuclear program, the deputy head of the military and technical cooperation agency said. "This is a defensive system," the agency's deputy director Konstantin Biryulin was quoted as saying by the state RIA Novosti news agency. "We are not talking about jets, submarines or even S-300 (missile) systems. We are talking about providing security for the Iranian state" - Russia Delivers Radar Jammers to Iran

Worldcrunch (Kommersant), November 10, 2011:Security experts and diplomats have wondered why Russia has come down so hard against a recent U.N. report that details Iran’s progress toward developing nuclear weapons. Russia has ruled out fresh sanctions on Iran, proposed by the United States, France and the United Kingdom. Moscow has argued that adding any extra measures would be seen as an attempt to topple the current regime in Iran. Now, it has been revealed that the dossier by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear watchdog, contains the name of a Russian scientist who may have played a key role in helping Tehran achieve its nuclear ambitions. Part of the IAEA document was published, but confidential sections of the report cast a shadow not only on Tehran but also on Moscow - Exclusive: Is This Why Russia Is Backing Iran On Nuclear Weapons Report?

Børge Svanstrøm Amundsen

"Atlas was permitted the opinion that he was at liberty, if he wished, to drop the Earth and creep away; but this opinion was all that he was permitted" - Franz Kafka

Defense News, November 14, 2011:Iran apparently had the help of a noted Russian scientist in developing a detonator and high explosives for its nuclear program, a Washington-based non-governmental group said. The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) identified Russian scientistVyacheslav Danilenkoas having had the know-how to help Iran weaponize its atomic program in areportreleased Nov. 13. It based its conclusion on thefindings issued last weekby the U.N. watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which expressed serious concerns about "credible" evidence of Iran working towards the development of nuclear warheads to fit inside its medium-range missiles - Russian Expert Advised Iran's Nuke Program: Report

Børge Svanstrøm Amundsen

"Atlas was permitted the opinion that he was at liberty, if he wished, to drop the Earth and creep away; but this opinion was all that he was permitted" - Franz Kafka

Mail Online, December 1, 2011:Russia last night admitted it had defied the West and supplied Syrian president Bashar al-Assad with a batch of cruise missiles. Despite warnings today that the country was in civil war and ongoing concerns over terror tactics used against civilians, Moscow will also go-ahead with training the dictator's troops to use the state-of-the-art weapons - Russia admits supplying Syria with cruise missiles

Børge Svanstrøm Amundsen

"Atlas was permitted the opinion that he was at liberty, if he wished, to drop the Earth and creep away; but this opinion was all that he was permitted" - Franz Kafka

TIME, December 7, 2011:A few years ago, during a summer recess at Moscow's Bauman University, two foreign students from Burma were abruptly expelled for drinking vodka in their dormitory. It was a minor infraction, one that would earn their Russian peers a reprimand at most. But these two students, like hundreds of others, were studying in Russia as part of their service in the Burmese military. They were part of a program to teach the Burmese government how to operate a nuclear reactor, how to find and process uranium, and how build missiles big enough to carry a nuclear bomb. Although they were thousands of miles from home, living in a run-down Moscow dormitory, they were subject to Burmese military discipline. That meant, they were headed back to Burma - Why Are Burmese Scientists Studying Missile Technology in Moscow?

Børge Svanstrøm Amundsen

"Atlas was permitted the opinion that he was at liberty, if he wished, to drop the Earth and creep away; but this opinion was all that he was permitted" - Franz Kafka

CNN, December 15, 2011:Kim Jong Il, the absolute dictator of North Korea, madea very rare tripoutside the protection of his own borders this past August, albeit on a heavily armored private train. The reason for the trip was a meeting with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev to talk about forming deeper trade and labor alliances between the two countries - North Korean labor camps in Siberia

China Daily, January 7, 2012:Russian warships patrolling the eastern Mediterranean Sea have docked at Russia's naval supply facility in the Syrian port of Tartus, the private Addounia TV reported Saturday. Governor of Tartus Imad Naddaf received the ships' leaders and expressed appreciation to Russia's support for Syria, the report said. [...] The move is considered by many observers as an apparent show of Russia's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad whose country has been gripped by a nearly 10-month bloody unrest - Russian warships dock at Syria's port of Tartus

Børge Svanstrøm Amundsen

"Atlas was permitted the opinion that he was at liberty, if he wished, to drop the Earth and creep away; but this opinion was all that he was permitted" - Franz Kafka

Aerospace & Defense News (AFP), January 10, 2011:The head of Russia's beleaguered space programme hinted on Tuesday that foreign powers may be behind the string of failures that struck his agency in the past year. Roskosmos chief Vladimir Popovkin told the Izvestia daily he could not understand why several launches went awry at precisely the moment the spacecraft were travelling through areas invisible to Russian radar. "It is unclear why our setbacks often occur when the vessels are travelling through what for Russia is the 'dark' side of the Earth -- in areas where we do not see the craft and do not receive its telemetry readings," he said. "I do not want to blame anyone, but today there are some very powerful countermeasures that can be used against spacecraft whose use we cannot exclude," Popovkin told the daily - Russia hints at foul play in its space failures

Børge Svanstrøm Amundsen

"Atlas was permitted the opinion that he was at liberty, if he wished, to drop the Earth and creep away; but this opinion was all that he was permitted" - Franz Kafka

ABC News (AP), January 12, 2012:A Russian ship, allegedly carrying tons of weapons, made a dash for Syria after Cypriot officials allowed it to leave their waters, Turkish officials said Thursday. The ship had made an unscheduled stop in Cyprus Tuesday, technically violating an EU embargo on arms shipments to Syria, which has killed thousands in a crackdown on dissent. Cypriot officials — told by the ship's owners it was heading for Syria and Turkey — only allowed the ship to leave Wednesday after the owners said it had changed its destination for Turkey only - Turkey: Russian Ship Carrying Arms Reached Syria

Børge Svanstrøm Amundsen

"Atlas was permitted the opinion that he was at liberty, if he wished, to drop the Earth and creep away; but this opinion was all that he was permitted" - Franz Kafka

Arab News (AP), January 23, 2012:A newspaper is reporting that Russia has signed a contract to sell combat jets to Syria in a show of support for President Bashar Assad’s regime. The business daily Kommersant said Monday without identifying its source that the $550 million deal envisages the delivery of 36 Yak-130 aircraft. A spokesman for Russia’s Rosoboronexport state arms trader refused to comment on the report. If confirmed, the deal would mark an open defiance of international efforts to put pressure on Assad’s regime, which has faced broad condemnation for its brutal crackdown on an uprising. The UN says more than 5,400 people have died over 10 months. Russia’s foreign minister said last week that Moscow doesn’t consider it necessary to offer an explanation or excuses over suspicions that a Russian ship had delivered munitions to Syria despite an EU arms embargo - Russia to deliver combat jets to Syria: report

Børge Svanstrøm Amundsen

"Atlas was permitted the opinion that he was at liberty, if he wished, to drop the Earth and creep away; but this opinion was all that he was permitted" - Franz Kafka

ITAR-TASS, January 18, 2012:Construction of fortyRussian Orthodox churches will be underway in Moscow City’s densely populated bedroom communities in 2012, Vladimir Ressin, an advisor to the Mayor of Moscow told reporters Wednesday. All in all, the authorities plan building some 200 new Russian Orthodox churches in the city’s dormitory districts that have an apparent shortage of church facilities. “Foundations of twenty church buildings have already been laid and we’re supposed to make arrangements on another twenty land plots this year,” Ressin said after a conference on the Program 200 that envisions the construction of 200 fast-to-build churches - Construction of 40 Russian churches to be underway in Moscow in 2012

Børge Svanstrøm Amundsen

"Atlas was permitted the opinion that he was at liberty, if he wished, to drop the Earth and creep away; but this opinion was all that he was permitted" - Franz Kafka

The Guardian, January 26, 2012:Russian police don't take kindly to opposition protesters – even if they're 5cm high and made of plastic. Police in the Siberian city of Barnaul have asked prosecutors to investigate the legality of a recent protest that saw dozens of small dolls – teddy bears, Lego men, South Park figurines – arranged to mimic a protest, complete with signs reading: "I'm for clean elections" and "A thief should sit in jail, not in the Kremlin". "Political opposition forces are using new technologies to carry out public events – using toys with placards at mini-protests," Andrei Mulintsev, the city's deputy police chief, said at a press conference this week, according to local media. "In our opinion, this is still an unsanctioned public event" - Doll 'protesters' present small problem for Russian police

Børge Svanstrøm Amundsen

"Atlas was permitted the opinion that he was at liberty, if he wished, to drop the Earth and creep away; but this opinion was all that he was permitted" - Franz Kafka